Goals: Belgium—De Bruyne 93’, Lukaku 105’; Green 107’
Recap: It took 120 minutes, but Belgium was finally able to dispose of the United States, capturing a 2-1 victory in Salvador.
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Dominance was the name of the game for a majority of the match, seeing Belgium out-shoot the United States 39-17. In fact, the Red Devils had 17 shots on goal to the Yanks’ five. It would finally pay off in extra time. A goal in the 93rd minute from Kevin De Bruyne set the stage. Romelu Lukaku closed the curtains just 12 minutes later. Julian Green was able to pull one back for the United States in the second half of extra time, but it was too little too late.
Belgium becomes the eighth group-stage winner to advance to the quarterfinals.
Key Moment: Belgium was wasteful with its chances for over 90 minutes. One substitution changed all that. The infusion of Lukaku led to the opening goal. He would ultimately seal the victory himself.
Man of the Match: The match wouldn’t have even reached extra time if not for Tim Howard. The 35-year-old made an astonishing 16 saves on the night, keeping the U.S. alive longer than it should’ve been.
Lesson Learned: Klinsmann’s stubbornness finally cost him. Needing a goal to escape Salvador with a victory, the U.S. head coach turned to, of all people, Chris Wondolowski. Not Landon Donovan nor Eddie Johnson, but Chris Wondolowski. Once again, in the biggest moments against quality competition, Wondolowski proved to be useless. Klinsmann was proven right with a few of his decisions, namely Julian Green, but the ghost of Wondolowski will keep the German native in polarizing purgatory for the next four years.
Up Next: Belgium is scheduled to meet Argentina on July 5, while the United States returns home to prepare for the next World Cup cycle.
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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